Book Review: With His Father’s Sword (The Empire of the Beast) by T.M. Carruthers

TL;DR Review: The Count of Monte Cristo meets Kingdom of Heaven by way of Gladiator.

Synopsis:

I am Harald Fairhair, illegitimate son of a dead land. I am Harald Lionheart, breaker of chains and champion of the arena.

I am Harald the bastard, and I have destroyed the world.

Hear Harald’s own words as he tells his story for the first time. From the murder of his family and the moment he took up his father’s sword in revenge, all the way to the gates of the Golden City where the Beast in chains called his name. Hear how he lived, and fell. Hear how he loved, and lost.

Man or monster? Hero or villain?

With His Father’s Sword is revenge driven epic fantasy on hard mode. Fallen heroes, monstrous enemies, hopeless crusades and a whispering beast wearing seven crowns.

This book was a wild ride!

From the beginning, the tone is set as beautifully dark when our protagonist comes home to find his father, brothers, and everyone else slaughtered by an undead draugr. Swearing vengeance, he sets off to report the deaths to the King, only to find himself lost in the woods, feverish, and chilled. After collapsing, he awakens to find himself being tended to by a kindly grandmother and her two friendly daughters. Sounds like things are going to take a turn for the happier, right? Yeah…no. Things just get bloodier, darker, and more messed up from here.

This is a PITCH BLACK fantasy story. Anytime we think there’s a moment of brightness or goodness that might turn things around for our hero, we’re dragged right down into the muck and blood and filth of this grimdark fantasy world.

From the betrayal of a nobleman he trusts to his being thrown in chains and sent across the ocean to fight in a “Holy War” to the years he spends fighting in the gladiator pits, this story just keeps going darker and darker in new and unexpected ways. And I was here for EVERY PART OF IT!

The story draws heavily on the revenge-driven flavor of Count of Monte Cristo, with our hero swearing revenge against one enemy after another. He keeps stacking up the list of people he’s going to kill, and we’re right there along for the ride because we’ve seen how he’s been betrayed and mistreated time and again, so we want him to succeed and take his bloody toll.

The crusades part reminded me heavily of Kingdom of Heaven, with the chaos, big battles, moments of heroism and nobility, backbiting between men vying for power, and the “Holy War” aspect.

Of course, the story has to have its Gladiator moment when everything goes wrong and our hero ends up fighting for his life in the slave pits. It does an amazing job of keeping the gritty and dark tone, sweeping us along on his story with a pace that feels inexorable and unstoppable.

That’s something I absolutely enjoyed about With His Father’s Sword. The story never lingers on any plot point or reveal but just keeps driving forward relentlessly, drawing us deeper into the misery, the bloodshed, and the hardships he has to face, building him up and breaking him down time and again.

The pacing is addictive because you just have to find out what comes next. I kept saying “Just one more chapter” about a dozen times when reading this book, and had a very hard time putting it down.

While it may not be the “perfect” book, it was definitely a damned good one—a fast-paced, hard-hitting, insanely dark story I will absolutely recommend to anyone and everyone.